Businessmirror november 01, 2015

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

BusinessMirror

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n Sunday, November 1, 2015 Vol. 11 No. 24

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BSP seen to maintain monetary policy U.S. banks to face D $120-B shortfall in Fed crisis plan

By Bianca Cuaresma

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW

n Previous week: The local currency depreciated during the week on the surge of dollar sentiment. The peso started trade on Monday at 46.54 to a dollar to depreciate on Tuesday at 46.72 to a dollar. On Wednesday the peso hit 46.76 to a dollar and further lost value on Thursday to near the 47 territory at 46.9 against the US dollar. The peso corrected after a week’s depreciation on Friday to end the week at 46.82 to a dollar. The total traded volume was at $3.19 billion, while the average for the week is at 46.748 to a dollar—weaker than the previous week’s 46.366 to a dollar.

n Week ahead: The Bangko Sentral warned that near-term volatilities may still linger in the market shortly after the US kept its options open for a rate hike before the year ends, but the governor ensured markets that it is ready to step in and participate in the market if volatilities become excessive.

ESPITE renewed talks about a possible rate increase from the United States before the year ends—coupled with the continuously low inflation environment in the country—the Bangko Sentral is not seen to make any adjustments on its monetary policy until the end of the year, an international economist said.

In his latest review of the country’s inflation path, DBS Bank economist Gundy Cahyadi said the central bank has been fairly consistent in its statements this year.

“Despite the softer inflation outlook, a rate cut doesn’t look imminent for now. Not as long as GDP growth momentum remains fairly strong, which is currently the case,” Cahyadi said.

“The fact that some inflationary risks on food prices persist means that the BSP is also likely to keep its tight policy stance,” he added.

The recent move of the US was also taken into consideration by the regional banking giant— where the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has left the door open for a possible movement on its interest rates before the year ends.

“With the US Fed unlikely to be aggressive in tightening its monetary policy, there would be pressure on the BSP to lower its interest rates ahead. This is especially since several central banks in the region have been relaxing their See “BSP,” A2

Tourism industry reeling from ‘tanim bala’ racket of DOTC personnel at naia

Inflation (October)

November 5, Thursday

n September inflation: Inflation fell further in September to hit 0.4 percent, according to the report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last month. The 0.4-percent September inflation rate is within the central bank governor’s forecast for September inflation, at 0.2 to 1 percent. It is also a further decline from the 0.6-percent inflation seen in August this year. Inflation has been consistently falling for seven consecutive months this year.

n October inflation: Bangko Sentral Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that inflation in October likely remained low and expected to settle within the range of 0.1 percent to 0.9 percent. Currently, the central bank’s forecast for inflation average for the entire 2015 is at 1.6 percent. This is below the government target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year. If the inflation for October hits the floor of Tetangco’s forecast, the average inflation for the first 10 months of the year will be at 1.42 percent. Meanwhile, if the October print will be at the ceiling of Tetangco’s target, the average inflation rate for the period of January to October this year will be at 1.5 percent. Both scenarios are below the government’s target range for the year, and would warrant an above 3-percent inflation in the last two months of the year for the target to be reached. Bianca Cuaresma

BusinessMirror media partner

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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HE proliferation of the alleged ammunition planting-cum-extortion incidents at the terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) is hurting the local tourism industry, with foreign and local travelers expressing their fears of using Manila’s main gateway.

Over the past week, there were several incidents of reported detention of individuals allegedly caught with a round of ammunition in their hand-carry luggage.

A number of these people, however, denied owning the rounds, and claimed that airport personnel tried to extort money from them.

This is a potential setback for the tourism department, especially since it is currently intensifying its efforts to meet its targets of generating $4.6 billion in tourism revenues, attracting 6 million tourists, and creating 3 million jobs by 2016.

Such figures will allow the tourism

PESO exchange rates n US 46.8900

industry to contribute 6.35 percent to the GDP.

A number of employees of the Department of Transportation and Communications’ Office of Transportation Security (OTS) allegedly plant live ammunition in the handcarry bags of unsuspecting passengers, and later threaten them of imprisonment if they fail to pay a certain amount of money.

Several groups have already assailed these incidents, saying that practices of corruption at the airport—even at the grassroots level—is an open secret.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said he has already deployed a team that will take charge of these incidents, saying that such corrupt acts shall not be tolerated by his office.

“We are definitely conducting an investigation, and will not tolerate this tanim-bala operation.

We have terminated and have filed charges against OTS and airport personnel before, and we will not hesitate to do it again,” he said.

Such allegations are so rampant, that the Civil Aviation Authority of

T

HE largest US banks would face a $120-billion total shortfall of long-term debt under a Federal Reserve (the Fed) proposal, aimed at ensuring that their failure would not hurt the broader financial system.

Banks, such as Wells Fargo & Co. and JP­ Morgan Chase & Co., will be required to hold enough debt that could be converted into equity if they were to falter, according to a Fed rule that was approved by a unanimous vote on Friday.

The Fed’s proposal, which applies to eight of the biggest US banks, requires debt and a capital cushion equal to at least 16 percent of risk-weighted assets by 2019 and 18 percent by 2022.

The broad strokes of the proposal, including the lengthy phase-in period and the 18-percent target instead of what some bankers thought could be as high as 20 percent, are easier than many in

the industry expected. Fed staffers presenting the proposal at Friday’s meeting said the requirement probably will be manageable for the banks.

The proposal, along with other measures regulators have taken to avoid chaotic bank failures, “would substantially reduce the risk to taxpayers and the threat to financial stability stemming from the failure of these firms,” Fed Chairman Janet Yellen said in a statement. The plan “is another important step in addressing the ‘too big to fail’ problem,” she said.

The rule on total loss-absorbing capacity, or See “US Banks,” A2

See “Tourism,” A2

n japan 0.3871 n UK 71.7980 n HK 6.0506 n CHINA 7.3765 n singapore 33.4046 n australia 33.2035 n EU 51.4758 n SAUDI arabia 12.5030

Source: BSP (30 October 2015)

News BusinessMirror

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1,800 forest-management contracts up for grabs next year–DENR exec T

HE government is eyeing to expand its partnership with various people’s organizations (POs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) next year to boost its forest protection and reforestation programs through the Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Program.

Director Ricardo Calderon of the Forest Management Bureau said that, currently, the agency has 1,884 CBFM partners, whose main task is to protect and manage the country’s forests.

Many of these CBFM partners have also been tapped by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as partners in the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP), which allows more upland dwellers to earn extra income, individually and as groups, in various reforestation activities, including establishment of tree nurseries, planting and maintenance of NGP sites.

Since its launching in 1995 as a national strategy to ensure sustainable development in the upland areas, the CBFM has engaged at least 197,349 upland families consisting of almost a million individuals, or roughly 4 percent of the 24 million Filipinos presently living in the country’s upland areas.

“We are eyeing to double the number of CBFM partners next year,” Calderon said. This also means that 1,800 management contracts or agreements are up for grabs for various NGOs, POs and community organizations in the next 25 years.

Under the CBFM program, a management agreement is entered into between the government and the upland communities, granting them access to land of public domain, allowing them to plant prescribed crops and trees, and generally benefit from the forests’ bounty as CBFM partners.

A CBFM agreement has a term of 25 years and renewable for another 25 years.

Calderon underscored the important role of upland communities in the protection of the country’s forests. Being CBFM partners, the POs, NGOs and community organizations also benefit from the use of land and forest resources within their designated CBFM areas.

The CBFM partners of the DENR have also been instrumental in the successful implementation of the NGP, a national reforestation program which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares by 2016. Now on its fifth year,

the NGP is touted as the government’s most successful reforestation program.

Over 1.2 million hectares of open, degraded and denuded forests have been planted with assorted native and fruit-bearing trees and generated over 2.2 million jobs since it was implemented in 2010 by the Aquino administration.

The CBFM partners act as forest protectors and help the DENR prevent destructive human activities in upland areas, such as slashand-burn farming, illegal logging and harvesting of wildlife, especially those listed as threatened and critically endangered.

Calderon said expanding the CBFM and NGP programs would help fight hunger and poverty in the rural areas. The DENR is stepping up capacity-building activities to boost the program’s implementation.

Last week, at the CBFMNGP Congress, the government launched the “Partnership on Capacity Building for CBFM-POs” between the DENR and the Land Bank of the Philippines to enhance the CBFM partners’ entrepreneurial skills and enable them to access credit facilities offered by lending institutions that promote countryside development.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Paje: Make All Saints’ Day observance garbage-free

A worker places flowers on the tomb of the departed in preparation for the observance of All Saints’ Day at a public cemetery in Pasay City. AP/Bullit Marquez

E

NVIRONMENT Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje urged local governments to strictly implement Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, particularly against the indiscriminate dumping of garbage during the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

This, as Paje appealed anew to the people who will troop to the cemeteries to pay respect to their departed loved ones this weekend to keep memorial parks and cemeteries garbage-free.

“We call on those who will pay respect to their dead to also respect the place of their burial by not making a dump site out of graveyards during their visit,” Paje

said in a statement.

He added that visits to cemeteries would be more meaningful if people respect the final resting place of their dearly departed.

Last year the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported that it collected almost 140 truckloads of garbage from various cemeteries in Metro Manila during the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Paje reminded local governments that litterbugs may be slapped with fines under the law, as well as their respective local ordinances.

“It is high time we penalized litterbugs by imposing fines or making them render community service,” Paje said.

US banks…

TLAC, is a key part of regulators’ efforts to avoid another financial crisis. If US banks were to fail, investors in their stock would lose everything, but the debt would be converted into equity in a new, reconstituted bank under the plan.

It’s an element of the so-called living wills banks must submit to the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. each year to map out their hypothetical demise.

Wells Fargo

THE reason for the provision: When a bank fails, regulators want it to have a war chest to fund a new, healthy version of the company—hopefully without a dime from taxpayers.

Wells Fargo had been perceived as facing the toughest road under the rule because of its reliance on deposits rather than debt.

Tourism…

the Philippines had to issue tips on how to avoid such incidents.

Passengers are advised to monitor their bags, and never permit strangers to handle them.

Zippers, pouches and pockets of their luggage must also be locked and sealed.

Once these bags pass through the metal detector and x-ray machines, passengers should always pick their bags up immediately. Passengers should also demand that they check their luggage themselves.

The air-safety regulator has also required all OTS security personnel to wear white gloves

BSP…

He added that Filipinos should adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle during Undas.

“Reuse, reduce, recycle. Have your vehicles checked for cleaner emissions before going on a long trip. Avoid traffic hours and known congested roads, if possible. Walk or ride a bike,” Paje said.

He also suggested that big families or groups bring their own garbage bags, at least two, to put in their trash, separating the recyclables from food waste.

“The number of ways to help the environment is practically limitless, and we are relying on the Filipinos’ ingenuity to affirm this, not only during traditional celebrations but every day,” he said.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

Continued from a1

The bank called the proposal “in line with our expectations” in a statement.

Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Guggenheim Securities Llc., said in a research note that the Fed “passed up several opportunities to be even more onerous.”

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), a group of global regulators that makes recommendations to the Group of 20 nations, plans to phase in a TLAC rule requiring long-term debt of at least 16 percent of risk-weighted assets starting in 2019 and 18 percent by 2022, people with knowledge of the rule have said. That would broadly match the Fed’s proposal.

More stringent

THE Fed also approved mandatory levels of minimum longterm debt, which vary depending

on how large and complex the banks are. Fed officials said on Friday that the types of debt that qualify are tougher than what was proposed last year by the FSB.

Since the financial crisis, the Fed has consistently written rules that have been more stringent than global regulatory accords on capital and liquidity.

TLAC is “the final piece of the puzzle in ensuring that the largest banks will be resolvable at no taxpayer cost,” according to Greg Baer, president of the Clearing House Association, which represents the largest banks. But he said in an email that the Fed plan “seems to go significantly beyond the types and amounts of loss absorbency required for this purpose, and once again significantly beyond what has been proposed as an international standard.” Bloomberg News

Continued from a1

while on duty.

“Possession of empty shells isn’t a crime under Philippine law. These passengers are allowed to leave, but shells are confiscated because other countries might have harsher laws. But possession of live ammo is a crime even if it is just one live round and without a gun. It is the law of the land, and failure to file a complaint can make OTS personnel liable,” Abaya explained.

While others vehemently denied bringing live ammunition to the airport, Japanese national Kazunobu Sakamoto, according to the Cabinet official, admitted that the

rounds were his.

“The Japanese citizen admitted he came from a firing range and got two rounds as souvenir and forgot they were in his jacket. On the day we inspected, there were two passengers in Terminal 2 who admitted they owned the live ammo because they were their amulets and believed they provided protection,” he said.

Several lawmakers and labor groups have called for the immediate and thorough investigation of the said incidents, calling on airport officials to step down from office to save them from further shaming.

Continued from a1

monetary policy stance, as well,” the Singapore-based bank said.

“On this front, the BSP’s stance on the peso will be interesting to monitor. Should the BSP feel the need to facilitate a softer currency, some policy loosening may be in the offing,” it added.

In a move widely expected by markets, the central bank kept all policy knobs unmoved in its latest policy meeting as benign inflation provided further room for the monetary authority to keep its

main policy rates on hold.

The monetary board reaffirmed that the current monetary setting remains appropriate for the present economic conditions in the country—keeping the repurchase rate (RP), or overnight lending rate, at 6 percent and 4 percent for the reverse repurchase rate (RRP), or overnight borrowing rate.

The interest rates on term RRPs, RPs and special deposits account were also kept steady. The reserve requirement ratios were,

likewise, left unchanged.

The seven-man monetary policy-making body of the BSP decided on keeping their fire on hold for the seventh consecutive time due to their assessment of benign inflation for this year and the next two years.

The next monetary policy meeting of the BSP will be on November 12. This will be the seventh and second to the last monetary policy meeting of the central bank for the year.

NewsSunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

European companies bid for supply of UHPC power-plant equipment

By Lenie Lectura

U

NITED Holdings Power Corp. (UHPC) has received bids from four European companies that are interested to assemble the electro mechanical equipment for the first phase of its 24megawatt (MW) hydropower plant.

The company has received bids from Andritz, Wassetkraft, Global Hydro and WKV. UHPC Business Development Officer Marti Espenido said the winning bidder would be awarded with the contract in December.

“Proposals are being reviewed,” he added.

Meanwhile, bidding for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the civil structures of the plant has been set this month. The company has, so far, received bids from Santa Clara International, JV Angeles Construction, Miescor and Phesco.

“Both contracts [EPC and electromechanical equipment] are set to be awarded in December this year,” said Espinido, who added that construction is expected to start within the first quarter of next year.

The first phase of the power project is worth P1.2 billion. It involves the construction of a hydropower facility in Bukidnon that can generate 8.4 MW. Project financing would be sourced from a combination of debt and equity. The company recently sealed a financing package from BDO Unibank Inc., which shall cover 70 percent of the project cost.

BDO Unibank, added Espenido, would likely be tapped again to partly finance the second phase of the project that involves producing 15.7 MW of power.

“The project will benefit a big part of the local community, also the adjacent towns because of the livelihood and economic movement, which will be on top of adding security in the power area,” he said.

The detailed engineering design for the second phase would be completed next month. The financial closure, as well as the bidding for project contracts, would then follow.

The company’s hydro project will use the Maladugao River in Lampanusan, Kalilangan, Bukidnon. It will generate 100 gigawatt-hours of additional energy to help ease the power shortage in Mindanao.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, November 1, 2015 A3

Ombudsman files charges vs Natl Police officials over AK-47 scam

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

HE Ombudsman has ordered the filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan against several retired and active National Police officials for their alleged involvement in the anomalous issuance of firearm licenses for AK-47 rifles in 2013.

In a 39-page order, Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales said that included in the charge sheet are directors Gil Meneses of the Civil Security Group and Napoleon Estilles of the Firearms and Explosives Office; Chief Supts. Raul Petrasanta, Tomas Rentoy III and Regino Catiis; Senior Supts. Eduardo Acierto and Allan Parreño; Supt. Nelson Bautista; Chief Insps. Ricardo Zapata Jr. and Ricky Sumalde; Senior Police Officers 1 Eric Tan and Randy de Sesto; nonuniformed personnel Nora Pirote and Sol Bargan; and Isidro Lozada of Caraga Security Agency (Caraga).

Morales directed the immediate filing of informations for multiple counts of violations of Sections 3(e) against the above-mentioned officials and individual, and 3(j) of Republic Act 3019 (AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act) against Estilles and Petrasanta.

“Respondents were found to have conspired in facilitating, processing and approving the applications for firearm licenses of Caraga, Isla Security Agency [Isla], Claver Mineral Development Corp. and JTC Mineral Mining Corp. despite incomplete or falsified applications and

supporting documents,” Morales said.

She added that most of the firearms were also released immediately even when some of the requests for their withdrawal from storage were not signed by the requester.

Morales said her office investigators discovered the following irregularities: issuance of firearm licenses to Caraga despite an expired license to operate; processing of Caraga’s applications without verifying the number of firearms already issued to it, which resulted in the issuance of licenses beyond the limit allowed by regulation; recommendations for approval of the firearm licenses without proper verification and checking; Meneses’s handwritten notations to expedite processing; and the absence of verification of the identity and capacity of Isla to purchase high-powered firearms.

“The public respondents failed to act in accordance with their respective duties in processing the questioned firearms license applications and that their acts or omissions or both demonstrate that they are guilty of gross inexcusable negligence and evident bad faith,” she said.

15 killed, 13 injured in Zamboanga City fire

Z

AMBOANGA CITY—Fifteen people, including six children, perished, while 13 others were injured in a fire that hit this city’s old public market on Saturday dawn.

Supt. Dominador Zabala Jr., Zamboanga City fire marshal, said the blaze razed 350 stalls, mostly used-clothing shops, and partially destroyed a threestory commercial building.

Estimated worth of property damage was placed at P8 million.

Zabala said the fire broke out at around 2:45 a.m. on Saturday in one of the stalls owned by a certain Mannan and rapidly spread to the nearby stalls.

Zabala added that the fire has reached third alarm status in a few minutes after it broke out.

Investigation showed the fire started when amber from an electric post that sparked fell into a stall of used clothing.

“Apparently, it was a spark in the wiring,” Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said.

Salazar said the other stalls that were razed were selling marine products and vegetables.

She noted that some of the stalls were constructed illegally by the occupants.

Salazar said the victims who were killed and injured were among the people staying in their stalls, while some had just stayed overnight as they were scheduled to travel to Jolo, Sulu. PNA

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A6 Sunday, November 1, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The best is yet to come–after 2016

I

N the Philippine Business Conference held a few days ago, the President was reported as saying “that the best is yet to come for the Philippines, perhaps even nearing first-world status,” if his good-governance policies are pursued by succeeding administrations. The President cited increases in expenditures in infrastructure as the main cause of this “approaching” transformation, attributing the increases specifically to his daang matuwid (straight path) administration and to his Public-Private Partnership Program.

In the last few years, we have sworn to ourselves to avoid bashing our country or its political leadership, but the idea being foisted by the President is so delusional it must be exposed for what it is. Let’s measure it against the facts.

First, let’s classify the Philippines. The World Bank classifies countries on the basis of their per-capita income, as follows: $1,025 or less: Low income $1,026 to $4,085: Lower-middle income $4,086 to $12,615: Upper-middle income $12,616 or more: High income For the Philippines, per-capita income was $1,650 in 2006; $2,750 in 2010; and $3,470 in 2014. We are thus a lower-middle income country.

At least, two things can be said about these numbers. One, Philippine percapita income increased by 70 percent from 2006 to 2010; and by 29 percent from 2010 to 2014. The performance in the 2010 to 2014 period not only failed to maintain the high growth of the 2006-2010 period, but severely curtailed it, retarding improvement of the people’s lives. It occurred under the watch of President Aquino.

And two: At the rate the present administration is going, it will take at least two more years before we reach the bottom of the upper-middle income countries. It will take an eternity to reach “first-world status”—presumably a per-capita income of some $12,600—under daang matuwid, given daang matuwid’s identification with technical incompetence, among other things.

There is no space here for the comparative data, but the growth rate of our per-capita income under the present administration in the four-year period 2010 to 2014 has been the slowest among members of the Asean.

In the face of these facts, how can the President be ebulliently talking of attaining first-world status “if only future administrations followed his kind of leadership?” Either the President has been misled by the short-term grades of some rating agencies, the ad-hoc assessments of pandering entities, and the self-serving assurances of subordinates and bootlickers, or he has been deceived by his own lack of knowledge.

The President has lately been described by some people as suffering from Aspherger’s syndrome, or autism. Although it is late in the hour, perhaps some kind of commission, to be composed of experts and authorities in the medical field, should now be created to evaluate the President’s mental condition. We need such evaluation to guide us in understanding the President’s statements and, in particular, his patently ludicrous speculations.

America faces growing threats with a blunted sword

By Steven P. Bucci The Heritage Foundation TNS Forum

T

HE world’s an even scarier place than it was last year.

From the Middle East to the South China Sea, the bad guys have grown stronger and bolder.

Meanwhile, our allies and friends—suffering from economies much weaker than ours—are spending less and less on defense.

This means less help available to us, if things go from bad to worse.

And US troops will be even more hard-pressed to prevail, since our own military spending has been slashed 15 percent over the last four years. As trend lines go, these are deeply worrisome. The world changes, whether we want it to or not.

Last year Islamic State (IS) was just “a JV team” in the eyes of President Barack Obama. Today the brutal Islamist group controls a third of the territory in two countries and commands a mobile light infantry army.

Russia began 2014 by flexing its muscles in its so-called near abroad, occupying Crimea and, later, invading Ukraine. Now Putin has pivoted to the Middle East, committing aircraft, missiles tanks and troops to preserve the terror-sponsoring regime of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad—one of the leading human-rights abusers of the 21st century. Moscow’s initial attacks in Syria seem largely directed against US-backed Syrian rebels rather than IS. In 2014 China periodically

Gospel

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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“pushed” on American friends such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. Now Beijing has built artificial islands across the South China Sea and demanded that everyone stay out of their newly expanded territorial waters.

Also last year Iran was desperate to negotiate for some sanctions relief. Now, they’re reaping a windfall: $150 billion in released funds, the removal of all restrictions on their conventional military programs (including ballistic missile technologies) and the prospect of resuming their nuclear weapons program in 15 years (or less, if they decide not to play by the rules—again).

The Obama administration’s persistently weak responses to provocation have only encouraged more aggressive behavior by our adversaries. And it’s led our friends to become increasing dubious about whether or not America will truly come to their aid, should crisis come. They’ve seen the US withdraw prematurely from trouble spots. They’ve seen Washington cut troop and military spending year after year. And they know that our Western allies, still caught in the economic doldrums, are less able to provide the kind of force and facilities America has long relied on for support.

Friends who have counted on America to have their backs are now looking over their shoulders and seeing no one there. As a result, Japan is considering developing an independent nuclear capability. The Sunni Gulf States are weighing what sort of weapons capabilities they should obtain to counter Iran’s new

EEING the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

strength. The Baltic States are bracing for an invasion; their military leaders say it feels like 1938 again in their capital cities.

Amid all this growing instability, readiness levels across all US military services are falling. There is too little money to train properly; ranges sit idle for lack of bullets, fighter jets are parked for lack of fuel, and America has no aircraft carrier battle group in the Middle East, because we cannot get it fitted for duty. Modernization has been put on hold or drastically curtailed; basic repair of worn out equipment is the best our troops can hope for.

Beyond the budgetary difficulties, the military has suffered a series of morale-sapping slaps from the administration. Having the Justice Department investigate a bombing target incident in Afghanistan suggests the administration mistrusts the Pentagon’s professional ethos and integrity.

And now the president has vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, because he doesn’t want to increase defense spending unless Congress agrees to raise nondefense budget lines, as well.

Message to the troops: Defense of the nation is no more critical than subsidizing the sugar industry.

What is the bottom line? At a time of growing threats, when the help available from others is shrinking, the American military is now less ready to defend our national interests than it has been for decades. What is happening is extremely dangerous.

We must halt—and reverse—the deterioration of US armed forces.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

“Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My Account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

—Matthew 5:1-12

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Sunday, November 1, 2015 A7

War sharpens the mind J

Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

AMES Holmes of Reuters reports that sailing an Aegis destroyer within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef only shows that Americans have as little use and regard as the Germans did for what the Germans called a mere scrap of paper, like a treaty international law before invading neutral Belgium. But first the facts, as Holmes lays them out.

The Chinese construction on Subi Reef is 500 nautical miles from the nearest Chinese shoreline on Hainan. The reef is also 230 nautical miles from the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Sure, the Philippines is closer, but still no cigar. A Philippine reclamation would be outside the law.

The area isn’t ours, period. It isn’t China’s either.

But is that any business of ours?

Patrick Buchanan, who expresses mainstream isolationist American opinion, says that the territorial claims of every country in the South China Sea are not American claims, obviously. American claims are to the maritime areas around Guam, Hawaii and—one might add—all of Latin America under the Monroe Doctrine. In short, the US cannot complain about China’s territorial assertions in the South China Sea and in fact, is not complaining. It is

concerned only by the freedom of navigation which we should not be concerned as I will show.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) says Holmes has the virtue of being one of the most clearly expressed documents in history. It clearly states that coastal states may construct artificial islands within exclusive economic zones, which extend 200 nautical miles off their coasts. Beyond that, the law allows no such projects. But this assumes that the law is in a position to allow or disallow anything.

Holmes says it is not in that position.

Therefore, when the Hague Court ruled that it has jurisdiction over a limited number of issues raised in the Philippine complaint against China (and advised the Philippines to further narrow the issues), it means something, but very little.

Under Unclos, China can ignore the arbitration case. The Philippines itself has already limited its complaint against China that it comes down to freedom of navigation. We have no material interest in that.

Whatsoever. There is no Philippine navigation to speak off; while multiples of trillions of dollars of trade do pass through the South China Sea, near none of it is ours or comes

from or goes to us—and what does is “Made in China,” like Apple computers and everything else in our shops.

To be sure, with “weaponized” Chinese reefs, we now run the same risk as countries on the Asian mainland bordering on China. But that is our problem and no one else’s.

Except for the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty that is no longer mentioned by either party, there is absolutely no commitment to our defense, especially after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo closed down the two US bases which, anyway, Pentagon officials told me before the eruption, the US had no intention of maintaining, what with US bases in the US mainland being closed for economic reasons.

Still, says Holmes, in a world without law, one law obtains: If you don’t invoke a toothless law, you lose any right to complain under it; not that complaining will come to anything, but mere talk.

On top of which, Holmes says, that a one-time challenge (by sailing within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef) to China’s claim to territory which did not exist until China made it out of sea water (thereby imparting to it a claim somewhat like the patent for an invention), merely un-

derscores the abiding fact that what China created stays, without China doing more.

Unless the US keeps sailing within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese construction, that one-time sail-by settled nothing and achieved worse.

If it is not repeated, it is tacit consent to the Chinese construction. And by the way, while within 12 nautical miles? Why not hugging the newly built shore of Subi Reef? And why just one small boat?

So what was achieved by that bold cruise within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef? Nothing, except that the one-time sail-by could get the ball rolling, possibly if not likely, toward war. This is not a bad thing.

In war, our allies must come down on our side.

Or we will come down on the other side. The other side is beckoning us to start bilateral talks.

The thing about war is that it tends to sharpen the mind and focus attention.

Meanwhile, Australia both threatens to sail the same route past Subi Reef as the US Aegis destroyer took and continues joint military exercises with Chinese forces in the South China Sea. Let me tell you where all this

will lead if we pick up the fight of Western countries against China: A settlement will be reached between them, in which the Philippines will be conceded to China and its people consigned to Chinese slavery. Yes, slavery works. It built the US, according to yet another study, and the Germans discovered that concentration cum extermination camps really work like toilet paper: Wipe and discard, no overhead. You get maximum mileage from the enslaved by working them to death and then you get living territory fertilized by their cadavers.

We are entering the age of fascism again, where major powers will think only of themselves (and when was it ever not so in the age of democracy?) and always at the expense of weak countries like ours. This is clear from the Republican party agenda in the coming US elections; an agenda the Democrats will adopt in time—and why not? It works for the country concerned. We should adopt it, as well.

It is better to be allied to China than sold upriver to China by the West. China can then regard us as signed, sealed and delivered to them under Western contract law to do with as they please.

US needs to improve its defenses against biological threats

By Tom Ridge and Joseph Lieberman The Philadelphia Inquirer TNS Forum

O

UR elected leaders have no greater responsibility than to protect and safeguard the American people. That imperative guided us when we served in public office after September 2001.

Although the government has successfully addressed many homeland security challenges since then, the United States is unfortunately still underprepared to confront a biological threat. Each day, we face the possibility of an infectious disease outbreak, an intentional bioterror attack or an accidental release of a pathogen from a research facility. Naturally occurring biothreats, such as Ebola, are bypassing borders to emerge on our shores. Terrorist groups like the Islamic State are devastating the Middle East, while endorsing biological warfare and threatening to attack our homeland.

Man-made threats are also occurring here at home in the form of safety and security lapses in our nation’s laboratories involving agents like anthrax. With the right approach

in place, we can prevent some of these instances and reduce the risk of others. But as recent events demonstrate, we are not prepared.

That is why we convened the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense in 2014—with former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Rep. Jim Greenwood and former homeland security adviser Ken Wainstein—to examine the national state of defense against biological attacks and infectious diseases and determine where we are falling short and what can be done about it.

Throughout a series of public meetings in 2014 and this year, we scrutinized the spectrum of biodefense activities by Republican and Democratic administrations. We identified substantial achievements but also found serious gaps that leave the homeland vulnerable. The American people witnessed recent evidence of these gaps when the entry of Ebola into the US resulted in significant confusion over roles and responsibilities. They also saw it when a massive outbreak of avian influenza hit the Midwest poultry industry in the total absence of vaccine

or other medical countermeasures to combat it.

Our panel determined that the US remains vulnerable to such threats because we lack strong centralized leadership at the highest level of government. No single individual is given the charge and authority to corral the dozen responsible departments and agencies into a cohesive and effective whole.

We identified three primary symptoms that result from this lack of leadership: Insufficient coordination across the federal government; inadequate focus on collaboration with and support for nonfederal stakeholders who handle critical activities like surveillance and response; and a risk aversion that is stifling the innovative solutions required to solve challenging technological and governance problems.

These symptoms are not abstract.

If they were rectified, hospitals would have the guidance they need to handle Ebola, city governments would have the support necessary to mass-dispense medical countermeasures, and industry would have the incentives and direction required to solve our greatest challenges in countermeasure development and

Throughout a series of public meetings in 2014 and this year, we scrutinized the spectrum of biodefense activities by Republican and Democratic administrations. We identified substantial achievements, but also found serious gaps that leave the homeland vulnerable. The American people witnessed recent evidence of these gaps when the entry of Ebola into the United States resulted in significant confusion over roles and responsibilities. biodetection technology.

The nation needs a top-level leader who recognizes the severity of the biological threat and possesses the authority and political will to defend against it. We recommend that this leader be the vice president, the person who has a direct line to the president and, when imbued with the proper authority, can act on the president’s behalf. The vice president should establish a White House Biodefense Coordination Council, unify the biodefense budget, and develop a national strategy for biodefense.

With this foundation in place, dozens of problematic areas can begin to be

solved. We can improve our ability to detect pathogens by recognizing that the current technology—BioWatch —is not meeting the need and by leveraging the ingenuity of industry and other partners to develop a new solution, even if that necessitates an investment risk.

We can make simple changes to the way contracts are processed that could decrease the time to field countermeasures, with no cutbacks in safety or efficacy testing. And we can establish a nationally notifiable animal disease system to help detect the next outbreak. Our report provides 33 recommendations that we believe will advance our status as a prepared nation, from enhanced intelligence collection, to protection of pathogen data and cybersecurity, to overhaul of the Select Agent Program, to US-led international efforts in public-health response and biological-weapons diplomacy. In our report, we offer specific and practical legislative, policy, and programmatic actions to fix vulnerabilities. It is a blueprint for better biodefense. The members of our panel are committed to working together until we make sure our country and people are adequately protected.

What I learned about pit bulls woke me up

By Alexandra Phillips Tribune News Service

A

S a social-media assistant for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), I spend most of my days responding to people who post comments or questions on Peta’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

I recently visited Peta’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the Sam Simon Center, and volunteered with our fieldworkers for two days. This experience made it clear to me why Peta supports breed-specific protection measures for pit bulls—namely laws mandating that these dogs be spayed or neutered, and that owners meet minimum standards of care, including no chaining.

Both days were spent in rural

North Carolina, mostly checking up on dogs Peta’s fieldworkers have been working to help. On the first day, I met so many sweet dogs, mostly pit bulls. It was heartbreaking to see a little pit-mix puppy so desperate for love that he ignored dog treats in order to keep having his tummy rubbed. The puppy’s mother had no shelter. Peta had previously provided her with a doghouse, and it was still on the property, but she is kept chained and couldn’t reach it. It took us less than 10 minutes to move the doghouse over to where the dog was now chained—a task that seemed to perplex her owners. We left both dogs with full stomachs, fresh water, straw and shelter. At houses on either side of this one, there were more dogs in the exact same situation.

My second day started off much

differently. Our first stop was a home with four dogs, two inside and two kept chained outside. The owner brought out a pit bull he said had been “rescued” from a dogfighting ring. She kept lunging toward us, and the owner kept saying, “She’s so mean. This is why we keep her locked in a bedroom.”

Next thing I knew, I heard shouting and looked over at what I thought was the pit bull attacking another animal.

I saw what looked like the dark fur of a lifeless animal lying in a ditch.

The man pulled the pit bull off and took her inside. When I ran over to the ditch, I saw that the “dark fur” was actually a woman’s black pants.

A neighbor had walked by and had been chatting with the man when the dog broke free and attacked her. Her shoes and hat had been knocked off, and she was lying there in complete

shock. The muscles, tendons and fat had been ripped out of her arm, and some pieces had landed on her shirt and in the ditch next to her. It looked like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

Firefighters, police officers and an ambulance were soon on the scene.

They treated the woman for a while and then prepared her to be transported to a trauma center. It was around that time that the shock wore off and she began to feel the pain. I will never get the image of her arm or the sound of her cries of pain out of my head. I don’t have any friends or family nearby who own pit bulls.

Before this, I had never even interacted with them. So I didn’t have any perspective whenever I read about Peta’s stance on pit bulls.

My experiences with Peta’s fieldworkers changed that. The measures

that Peta supports—mandatory spay/neuter laws for pit bulls and required minimum standards of humane care for them—would greatly help those sweet, sad dogs I met on my first day, who were living among garbage and their own waste. They would also help the puppy I saw with a chain around his neck that weighed more than he did and the pit bull kept locked inside a bedroom that will now most likely be euthanized because she attacked someone. It’s easy to feel that you’re right in saying, “Don’t discriminate against pits,” when you don’t see this sort of thing every day as Peta’s fieldworkers do. Breed-specific protection for pit bulls would also help people like the human victim here, who will probably never have full use of her arm again—if her arm can be saved at all.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 | S

unday, November 1, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

METS FIGHT BACK N

EW YORK—Two balls launched over the wall, one fired over an opponent’s head and just like that, the New York Mets are right back in this World Series following a 9-3 win against Kansas City on Friday.

David Wright homered and drove in four runs, Curtis Granderson also connected and rookie pitcher Noah Syndergaard set a nasty tone with the first pitch as the Mets won the first of three straight games at their Citi Field home and cut the series deficit to 2-1.

Syndergaard caught everyone’s attention with his first delivery to aggressive leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar.

Well aware of Escobar’s penchant for attacking the first pitch—he opened Game One with an inside-the-park homer— Syndergaard threw a high fastball, and Escobar fell to ground in his evasive action.

“I feel like it really made a statement to start the game off, that you guys can’t dig in and get too aggressive because I’ll come in there,” Syndergaard said.

“My intent on that pitch was to make them uncomfortable, and I feel

like I did just that.” Escobar, having a huge postseason, acknowledged he was caught off guard.

“I didn’t like it one bit. He was saying yesterday that he had a plan against my aggressiveness. If that’s the plan, that’s a stupid plan,” Escobar said.

“I cannot fathom a pitcher would throw to the head a 98-mph pitch on the first pitch of the game.” Kansas City players spent the next few innings shouting at Syndergaard from the dugout.

“I think the whole team was pretty upset.

The first pitch of the game goes whizzing by our leadoff man’s head,” Mike Moustakas said. “I think all 25 guys in that dugout were pretty fired up.”

Shut down at the plate in Kansas City, the Mets broke loose with 12 hits from nine different players as they quickly dismissed Royals starter Yordano Ventura.

Syndergaard recovered from a shaky start and went six innings, giving the Mets the winning performance they didn’t get from fellow young starters Matt Harvey and

NEW YORK Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (left) celebrates with Travis d’Arnaud after defeating the Kansas City Royals in Game Three. AP

LAKERS’ S

ACRAMENTO, California—Byron Scott sat at the dais and made one thing clear.

“The first thing that Magic [Johnson] taught me when I got in this league is that we win championships by defending every single night,” Scott said. “You’re going to miss shots, you’re going to make shots. But the one thing you control every single night is your effort on the defensive end.”

The date was July 29, 2014. Scott had just been hired as the Los Angeles Lakers’ 21st coach. Happier times were seemingly ahead.

The final score on Friday reflected nothing Scott hoped to bring to the franchise that employed him for 11 years as a player: Sacramento Kings 132, Lakers 114.

This was ugly from the start, the Lakers already surrendering 50 points early in the second quarter. It’s a wonder the Kings didn’t get to 75 before halftime, but they almost did (74).

The Lakers gave up so many points in the paint, it was laughable (80). The Kings kept sneaking behind them for easy fastbreak points (33). It was silly to count how many open three-point looks Sacramento had at Sleep Train Arena.

Scott told the Lakers at halftime to “man up,” he

Jacob deGrom at Kauffman Stadium.

“Real big game for us,” Collins said. “He delivered. He came through exactly as we expected.”

Another rookie, hometown favorite Steven Matz, will try to pull New York even on Saturday in Game Four when he faces former Met Chris Young.

After the Mets fell behind in the top of the first inning, Granderson started the bottom half with a single and Wright hit his first World Series home run, a two-run shot that delighted a packed crowd.

The captain added a two-run single on Kelvin Herrera’s first pitch during a four-run sixth inning that broke the game open. Juan Uribe, just back from a chest injury, had an RBI single in his first plate appearance for over a month.

Slugger Yoenis Cespedes added a sacrifice fly.

The Mets are trying to rekindle the comeback spirit of 1986, when the Mets rallied from a 0-2 World Series hole to beat Boston for their

‘D’ GETS AN ‘F’

said, still unhappy after the game because the Lakers were “soft” from the start of it, he added.

“We just sucked,” he said.

“I’ve never seen 80 points in the paint. I really haven’t.”

The Lakers allowed 112 points to Minnesota in Wednesday’s opener, and it’s scary to think what will happen when they play Golden State or Oklahoma City.

Rajon Rondo, hardly known for his scoring, teased and taunted with plenty of scoop shots in the lane and 21 points (plus eight assists). There was Rudy Gay, slipping behind everybody for a long lead pass and easy emblematic dunk.

The score could have been worse, but the Kings missed plenty of long-distance looks, their fans groaning when Gay had several seconds by himself above the left side of the arc, only to miss.

D’Angelo Russell had 13 points, five coming in the meaningless fourth quarter, and had trouble

staying with Rondo.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Kobe Bryant said. “Rondo’s an animal, man. It’s a tough match-up for anybody. It’s one thing to see him on TV. It’s another thing to actually be against him and see his speed and his tempo.”

Bryant had 13 points and again struggled from three-point range, hitting only one of eight in 22 minutes. He said he was being deferential to the Lakers’ young players.

Jordan Clarkson had 22 points on efficient 10for-15 shooting, the only good thing to happen to the Lakers on Wednesday. Julius Randle had more fouls (five) and turnovers (five) than points (three) and rebounds (two).

At some point very early in the game, the Lakers led by two. It was irrelevant. It’s hard to keep a lead for a team that simply can’t defend.

Elsewhere in the NBA on Friday, it was Utah 99, Philadelphia 71; Cleveland 102, Miami 92; Oklahoma City 139, Orlando 136, double overtime; Detroit 98, Chicago 94, overtime; Toronto 113, Boston 103; Washington 118, Milwaukee 113; Atlanta 97, Charlotte 94; San Antonio 102, Brooklyn 75; Minnesota 95, Denver 78; Golden State 112, Houston 92; and Phoenix 110, Portland 92. Los Angeles Times

DEL ROSARIO BEATS ‘EM IN PATTAYA

P

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines Lady Maroons Aiesha Laine Gannaban (15) and Rose Mary Cailing (16) try to keep the ball in play. NONOY LACZA

AULINE DEL ROSARIO broke away early with clutch birdies to cushion the impact of a faltering finish, closing out with a one-under 71 to edge Thailand’s Paphangkorn Tavatanakit by one and capture the Thailand Ladies Amateur Open crown at the Phoenix Golf Club in Pattaya on Friday.

Tied with Tavatanakit after 36 holes, del Rosario surged ahead by three with birdies on Nos. 3, 10 and 13 then bucked a three-putt miscue on No. 17 and her rival’s closing birdie to hack out a one-stroke victory with a 54-hole aggregate of six-under 210.

“It’s a nice feeling to win again. I really worked hard on my putting and I’m glad I made the putts in the early going to wrest control,” said the 17-year-old del Rosario, who

muffed a number of birdie chances in the first two rounds that enabled Tavatanakit to share the lead with 69 and 70.

It was The Country Club (TCC) bet’s second National Open triumph this year after the De La Salle-Zobel student dominated the field in the Malaysian Ladies Open in June and it came on the heels of her runaway title-retention victory in last month’s Canlubang Amateur Open.

“She’s been hitting the ball pretty solid and she was due for another win,” TCC Coach Bong Lopez said. “I told her she needed a strong start and she responded.”

Tavatanakit settled for second with a 211 after a 72 while Rina Tatematsu, also of Thailand, rallied with a 69 to grab third at 215. Princess Superal, also of TCC, finished the way she started, in struggling form, ending up with a 73 for seventh at 221, while teammate Sofia Chabon wound up 12th at 227 after a 73.

By Joel Orellana

Ranidel de Ocampo and Kelly Williams due to injuries.

Top 2 picks Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario contributed 12 points each for Talk ‘N Text, which found the Enforcers tough nuts to crack behind the solid performance of LA Revilla and rookie Bradwyn Guinto.

Mahindra, formerly Kia, led by as many as eight points in the third period, 69-61, before Castro started to take charge in the fourth quarter.

Revilla’s three-pointer gave the Enforcers an 88-84 lead when Castro led a crucial 13-2 exchange to give Talk ‘Text a 97-90 advantage with 2:34 remaining.

But Mahindra refused to fold as Revilla anchored a 7-2 counter he capped with a three-point play off Rosario to push his team to within two, 97-99 with 61 seconds left in the game.

PLDT ULTERA BACK ON TRACK P Texters down Enforcers for first victory T

LDT Home Ultera banked on the power-spiking pair of Gretchel Soltones and Janine Marciano as it trounced University of the Philippines (UP), 25-12, 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, to get back on track in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City on Saturday.

Soltones and Marciano, former rivals in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, with the former playing for San Sebastian and the latter with San Beda, each unloaded 16 hits and combined for 24 attack points to help the Ultrafast Hitters catch their victims at second with the Navy Lady Sailors at 2-1.

More important, the win put PLDT back in the semis hunt after dropping a 23-25, 25-23, 11-25, 25-19, 13-15 setback to archrival Army last week that left the Lady Troopers the only unbeaten team in

the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

“We just minimized the errors and received well, especially in the last two sets,” said PLDT Coach Roger Gorayeb, seeking a personal “three-peat” after steering PLDT to the Open Conference crown and the National University to the Collegiate Conference championship. The Ultra Fast Hitters also bucked the continued absence of top hitter and league Most Valuable Player Alyssa Valdez, who is out with a back injury.

“We’re still not sure when she is returning but we hope it will be soon,” Gorayeb said of the prized Ateneo hitter.

UP, which impressed a lot by sweeping its first two games, dropped out of the joint lead, but remained in the semis race of the tournament presented by PLDT Home Ultera and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

ALK ‘N TEXT rebounded from an ugly loss to Alaska by pulling off a 101-97 escape act over Mahindra to book its first victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Mall Asia Arena.

Jayson Castro led the Tropang Texters’ comeback with a game-high 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and bounced back from a 98-114 defeat to Alaska in their season-opening game.

“We are not where we wanted to be at this point. It’s still a long way to go,” Talk ‘N Text Head Coach Jong Uichico said. “Marami pa kasing kulang because of absences and we’re struggling to get into the groove.”

The Tropang Texters are still missing the services of

most recent championship.

The Royals hardly looked intimidated by Syndergaard’s first-pitch warning, and scored three runs in the first two innings.

Ben Zobrist doubled and scored on a groundout by Eric Hosmer that gave him 16 RBIs in 14 postseason games this year. Alex Rios had an RBI single in the second, and another run scored on a pitch that got away from the catcher.

But the Royals ran themselves out of a chance at a bigger inning when Alex Gordon was thrown out at third. He was initially called safe but that was reversed following a replay review.

Syndergaard helped himself at the plate.

He singled leading off the third ahead of Granderson’s second homer of the series, a line drive off Ventura to the right-field corner.

“He just wasn’t sharp,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said about his starter. “Fastball velocity was down. Made a couple mistakes.”

That put the Mets ahead to stay at 4-3, making it the first World Series game with three lead changes in the first three innings, according to STATS. AP

Bigger Superliga expected in ‘16

A

NOTHER intense and actionpacked women’s volleyball season is in the offing as the Philippine Superliga (PSL) enters its fourth year in 2016.

“Due to our tremendous success this year, we have decided to treat fans to a year-round of intense volleyball action,” PSL President Ramon “Tats” Suzara told team owners on Friday The interclub league will open the new year with an Invitational Cup in February and a beach volleyball tournament in May. The highly anticipated AllFilipino Conference kicks off in June and the Grand Prix bannered by top foreign players opens in October. To end the loaded year, another beach volleyball tournament will be staged in December.

The Superliga will also host international tournaments next year—the Asian Volleyball Confederation Asian Women’s Club Championship and possibly the Federation International Volleyball World Women’s Club Championship.

Suzara added that the team owners agreed to sign their players to annual contracts starting next year because the league will have a jampacked schedule. Lance Agcaoili